<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>finally safe (for me to fall) by ifwehadbeeninlove</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24111766">finally safe (for me to fall)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifwehadbeeninlove/pseuds/ifwehadbeeninlove'>ifwehadbeeninlove</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SEVENTEEN (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Romance, past gyuhan, strangers to friends to lovers eventually</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 01:14:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,399</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24111766</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifwehadbeeninlove/pseuds/ifwehadbeeninlove</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>the first time jeonghan met hansol was two months after his breakup with his ex-boyfriend.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chwe Hansol | Vernon/Yoon Jeonghan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>finally safe (for me to fall)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>loosely inspired by halsey's song finally//beautiful stranger.</p>
<p>i was going to make this an oneshot, but in the end decided to split it into two parts :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> the truth is this </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> that i've never seen a mouth that i would kill to kiss </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> and i'm terrified, but i can't resist </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>the first time jeonghan met hansol was two months after his breakup with his ex-boyfriend.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>it was seungkwan’s twenty-second birthday party, and despite not really feeling up to partying, he didn’t want to miss out on his friend’s birthday. so, he had decided to attend and at least try to have some fun. joshua, jihoon, seokmin and seungkwan would all be there - jeonghan’s best friends.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>they had been his biggest support after the breakup. and the breakup had been… messy, to say the least.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>messy beginnings could only produce messy endings, after all. and the only word you could use to describe his relationship with mingyu was, well, <em> messy </em>. yoon jeonghan and kim mingyu, two polar opposites - yet somehow, they had made it work. or, attempted to.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>if they really had succeeded in making it work, he’d be attending seungkwan’s party with mingyu, not alone. jeonghan was upset about the breakup, of course. despite everything, he had really been in love with mingyu. sometimes shit just doesn’t work out. that’s the way life goes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>the first time jeonghan met hansol, he was in the middle of watching seokmin and seungkwan perform a drunken karaoke duet. they were very competitive when drunk, and watching them try to outsing each other was real entertainment (they both were amazing singers, though). it was just the five of them at seungkwan’s apartment - it hadn’t been meant to be a big party anyway, but a couple people had cancelled. seungkwan didn’t seem to mind though, and had claimed to not need anyone but the four of them anyway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>he had sounded slightly bitter though, so maybe he <em> did </em>mind, after all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>it was just the five of them, and as it had already been two hours since the party started, they hadn’t expected a sixth guest to ring the doorbell and appear. joshua had gotten up to answer the door, and in walked a guy jeonghan had not met before, but obviously joshua had, as he was immediately pulled into a <em> bro-hug </em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“josh, long time no see!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>after joshua stepped aside to let the guy further inside the apartment, jeonghan got a better look at him. he was tall, had messy brown hair, was strikingly handsome and had a wide grin plastered on his face. jeonghan instantly blamed it on the alcohol, but his first thought was <em> oh damn </em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>seungkwan threw his karaoke microphone onto jihoon’s lap, and ran over to pull the guy into a bear hug. “hansol!” he exclaimed, and jeonghan connected the dots. he had heard seungkwan talk about his childhood best friend, chwe hansol - so this was him, then. seokmin joined in on the hug as well, which made jeonghan wonder if he and jihoon were the only ones who had never met this chwe hansol guy. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“jihoon, jeonghan - this is hansol!” seungkwan introduced him after pulling away from the suffocating (by the looks of it), three person hug. after noticing jeonghan and jihoon, hansol seemed visibly more shy than when he had greeted joshua, seungkwan and seokmin. <em> cute </em>. “um, yeah, hi”, the guy said awkwardly, but with the same bright smile still on his face. jeonghan almost forgot to respond until jihoon nudged him after introducing himself. “oh, sorry! hi, nice to meet you, hansol”, jeonghan said, offering him a smile of his own.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>despite the slightly awkward introduction, jeonghan found he got along with hansol pretty well. hansol did seem like a guy who’d easily get along with anyone, honestly. he wasn’t loud like seungkwan and seokmin, but he was really sweet and <em> chill </em>. relaxed. hansol’s presence was calming, and after the chaos of his breakup, he really appreciated the atmosphere his arrival had created. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>that night, jeonghan ended up talking to hansol a lot. seungkwan and seokmin had somehow roped jihoon and joshua into playing some weird drinking game that jeonghan didn’t even know the rules to (he doubted seokmin or seungkwan did either) and while they were occupied, hansol and jeonghan sat on the sofa watching their antics in amusement and chatting.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>jeonghan had learned that both hansol’s parents were painters, but that he himself had more interest rapping and music in general. he had uploaded some of the songs he had made onto soundcloud, and jeonghan promised to check them out the following day. he had been born in new york. he had a younger sister he adored (one thing they had in common).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>jeonghan told him about his job as a teacher in a kindergarten, about his family, and even shared he used to dream of modelling once upon a time. hansol was listening intently, letting jeonghan speak, he noted. “so why didn’t you pursue modelling?” hansol asked after jeonghan finished what he had to say. “i mean, you would make a great model - with a face like that, i bet you’d make all magazines sell out in no time.” jeonghan was sure his face was <em> so red </em> - that had been an unexpected comment and he was flustered. he lowered his gaze, embarrassed but also flattered, and couldn’t help the tiny smile that formed on his lips. “my parents weren’t very supportive of that dream, they always told me to get a ‘real job’”, jeonghan explained and hansol offered him an empathetic smile and an “oh man, that’s a real pity. you’re really pretty.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>jeonghan had to look away.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>and who was hansol to call him pretty when he himself was so devastatingly handsome and beautiful and oddly charming and-</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em> alright </em> , he told himself, <em> calm down, jeonghan </em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>when jeonghan said bye to his friends that night and went home, he had gained a new friend <em> and </em>his phone number. he couldn’t explain the strange excitement he was feeling in his stomach.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>he did, however, realize that he had not thought of mingyu. not even once.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>the next day, jeonghan fulfilled his promise of listening to hansol’s songs.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p><b>10:42AM</b> hi hansol, it’s jeonghan</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>10:50AM</b> hey, wassup :)</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>10:51AM</b> listened to your songs, theyre rly good!!</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>10:51AM</b> thanks man i’m glad you liked them!</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>after that, they started texting each other quite a lot which jeonghan had not been expecting at all. he had of course wanted to become friends with hansol, so he didn’t mind it, but the funny feeling he had after seungkwan’s party returned. jeonghan didn’t know what it meant, but somehow he felt like meeting hansol had changed something.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>“so you and hansol really hit it off, huh?” seungkwan asked one saturday afternoon when they were hanging out at joshua’s place. jeonghan turned to look at seungkwan who had an extremely annoying, teasing smile playing on his lips. jeonghan rolled his eyes. “he’s a nice guy, i made a new friend, is it that surprising?” he asked. seungkwan shrugged. “not surprising. it’s just that he talks to me about you.” now this piqued jeonghan’s interest. they had not known each other that long - what did hansol say to seungkwan about him? “chill out, he just said you’re cute”, seungkwan said, amused, looking at jeonghan’s surprised expression. “what? you like him already or something?” seungkwan teased, and jeonghan actually flushed red in embarrassment. “i don’t like him!” he rushed to deny. “well, not like that. it’s way too soon anyway.” the other nodded in understanding, knowing well that jeonghan and mingyu’s breakup hadn’t been easy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“you two would look good together tho-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“seungkwan!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“just saying!”</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p><b>12:34PM </b>heyy you free to hang out tonight?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>hansol had started hanging out with their group, but jeonghan hadn’t been alone with him before. and he didn’t know if hansol meant they would be hanging out alone, just the two of them. that thought made him a little bit nervous, but also excited at the same time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>12:38PM</b> sure!!</p>
<p><b>12:38PM</b> what time?</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>12:39PM</b> my place, 7PM?</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>12:39PM </b>ok see you!!</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>after spending a good half an hour having a crisis over what to wear, jeonghan simply settled on black skinny jeans, a white t-shirt and an oversized flannel. he stared at himself in the mirror: he had paid extra attention to his hair and even put on a little makeup, which he didn’t do all that often. especially not when he was supposed to just hang out with a friend.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>why it was different with hansol, he couldn’t understand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(he wanted hansol to find him pretty.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>jeonghan put on his jacket, grabbed his keys and phone and left.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>when hansol opened the door of his apartment, jeonghan felt his heart stop for a second. hansol always looked good, but tonight… jeonghan hadn’t known it was possible for him to look even more handsome than he usually did. the taller greeted him with a smile and a hello, before looking him up and down in a manner that made jeonghan feel shy. “you look nice”, hansol said and let jeonghan inside. “you too”, jeonghan returned the friendly compliment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>he took his shoes and jacket off and looked around. the apartment wasn’t big, but it wasn’t too cramped either. the decor of the apartment was fairly simple, but it was nice. cozy. they walked further into the apartment and hansol told jeonghan to take a seat on the sofa while he’d get drinks for them. soon he returned with two glasses of red wine, handing one to jeonghan who thanked him quietly. “i didn’t know which wine you prefer so i just went for my personal favorite”, hansol said and smiled sheepishly, “it’s nothing fancy.” jeonghan took a sip before replying, “it’s good.” hansol seemed relieved at that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“so what’s up?” jeonghan asked, setting his wine glass on the small table in front of the sofa. “i’ve been working on music, a lot”, hansol started, “and i actually got a gig. a small one, but a gig anyway.” his smile widened and he looked so genuinely happy and excited about it, and jeonghan couldn’t help but feel excited too. “that’s amazing!” hansol took a sip of his wine. “yeah, it’s great. but enough about me already, how are you?” jeonghan hummed, thinking about it for a second before saying, “i’m doing okay. better than a few months ago, that’s for sure.” hansol nodded, smiling. he understood - he had heard of jeonghan and mingyu’s breakup.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>there was a minute of (comfortable, not awkward) silence, before hansol asked another question: “do you still miss him?” jeonghan hadn’t been expecting him to ask him about mingyu, but he answered anyway. “we were together for two years and the whole relationship was… messy. even if i do sometimes miss him, i don’t miss the relationship. does that make sense?” it was true that there were moments jeonghan would miss mingyu - when he’d wake up on a sunday morning he’d miss the times mingyu would be preparing coffee in the kitchen. when he was sad, he missed being able to just text mingyu and he’d come over. mingyu was a good hugger, a good kisser, and very good in bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>but they fought a lot too. people say opposites tend to attract each other, and that was true in jeonghan and mingyu’s case too, but they were also too different. in the end, they decided that it wasn’t worth all the arguments. they were better off as friends. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>even though jeonghan didn’t even know if they were friends anymore, as they hadn’t spoken even once since the night of the breakup. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“i shouldn’t have asked”, hansol apologized, “sorry.” jeonghan shook his head and gave him a reassuring smile and patted his knee. “no, it’s fine. i think it’s good to talk about it.” hansol put his own hand on top of jeonghan’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before moving it away again. jeonghan picked up his wine glass again and took a sip, licking his lips afterwards. he turned his head towards hansol to ask him something, but noticed the other was staring. at him. flustered, jeonghan quickly looked away.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>what was wrong with him. he wasn’t usually this shy around people. not even the cutest guys. jeonghan couldn’t even blame it on the wine - he hadn’t drank that much, only a few sips.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>hansol cleared his throat, suddenly seeming nervous. “you know…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>jeonghan turned to look at hansol, who was still intently looking at him. “yeah?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“you’re so pretty, you know?” hansol managed to get out of his mouth, and it sounded like it was something he had been trying to say for a while now. jeonghan’s heartbeat quickened but this time he <em> couldn’t </em> turn his gaze anywhere else. hansol tentatively reached out to tuck jeonghan’s blonde hair behind his ear and visibly swallowed. jeonghan felt a strange anticipation of what was going to happen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“can i kiss you?” hansol whispered, and jeonghan thought that if his heart beat any faster, he might die. slowly, jeonghan nodded, his gaze flickering to hansol’s lips. hansol started leaning in and jeonghan closed his eyes and when he felt the other’s lips press against his own, the butterflies in his stomach went crazy. he kissed back, hansol’s hand cupping his cheek and his own hand on hansol’s shoulder.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>for a while, the kiss stayed sweet and innocent but it wasn’t long before it wasn’t so <em> sweet </em>anymore. hansol was kissing him with hunger, pulling jeonghan closer. jeonghan was responding just as eagerly, letting himself be pulled to straddle the other. hansol pulled away for a moment and asked breathlessly, “is this okay?” looking at jeonghan, trying to make sure he was comfortable with this. jeonghan knew this was going fast, but at this point, he didn’t really care, so he nodded again and gave his answer by grabbing hansol’s face and smashing his lips back onto his. hansol latched his hands onto his waist and pulled him closer to his body. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>when jeonghan felt hansol’s lips on his neck, he couldn’t fight the pleased sigh falling off his own. it had been a while and it felt so good - the other kissing down his neck and feeling him up. all he could think of was <em> hansol, hansol, hansol </em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>and when hansol nibbled on his ear and whispered, “i want you”, jeonghan found himself nodding once again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>and he couldn’t blame it on the wine.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>chapter two is going to be more eventful!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>